本文作者： 内蒙古 张彦苹 浙江 杨素莲
C

难度：★★★ 体裁：体裁：夹叙夹议 建议时间：16分钟 话题：Family 文章词数：305 正确率： /20

I forgot my anniversary this year, but I didn’t feel guilty about it. 1 , I did it with my husband’s blessing. In our marriage we have to do it. I 2 it this year, and he forgets it the next.

Chad and I spent about 15 years celebrating our anniversary the 3 way. He’d get me flowers, I’d get him a 4 , and we’d go out for dinner. While we both 5 our child-free time together, I finally admitted that I didn’t even like red roses, and his card 6 up in the garbage can.

So we started a new 7 called the Every Other Year Anniversary. We take 8 to plan a surprise for each other each year.

I volunteered to go 9 , planning a weekend getaway to Hiawassee, where we stayed by a lake and saw the Charlie Daniels Band in concert. I chose 10 the activities. Planning it was as much 11 for me as going.

The next year was my turn to be 12 . Chad, though traditionally not a romantic, made a wonderful arrangement, 13 a weekend in Nashville. We went on a very funny comedy bus tour and visited downtown Nashville. Chad even 14 some shopping just because he knew I would like it. For once, I didn’t have to make any 15 . I could tell Chad had put a lot of 16 into where we went and what we did.

We agreed at this point that the new 17 would be doing better than each other the following year. Surprisingly, we 18 to do it every time.

We have now been married for more than 20 years. The Every Other Year Anniversary has made our 19 loving, complete and, above all else, fun! I can’t 20 to see what’s in store next year.

1. A. In return B. In brief

C. In fact D. In addition

2. A. remember B. forget C. regret D. destroy

3. A. funny B. different C. special D. old-fashioned

4. A. card B. gift C. kiss D. hug

5. A. wasted B. enjoyed C. imagined D. expected

6. A. stayed B. showed C. turned D. ended

7. A. theory B. program C. tradition D. campaign

8. A. turns B. steps C. time D. risks

9. A. once B. first C. second D. next

10. A. most B. some C. all D. none

11. A. fun B. effort C. trouble D. progress

12. A. amused B. confused C. patient D. surprised

13. A. saving B. sparing C. planning D. affording

14. A. put up with B. got along with

C. kept up with D. got rid of

15. A. rules B. decisions

C. business D. difference

16. A. mind B. money C. thought D. instructions

17. A. chance B. project C. advantage D. challenge

18. A. fail B. happen C. manage D. intend

19. A. holiday  B. marriage C. routines D. activities

20. A. wait B. refuse C. demand D. hesitate

轻松一刻

Ø Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Ø A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

– Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965, British statesman, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955 )

Ø 人不仅需要勇气站起来说话，也需要勇气坐下来倾听。

Ø 悲观主义者在每个机会里看到困难；乐观主义者在每个困难里看到机会。

——温斯顿·丘吉尔

D

难度：★★★ 体裁：体裁：夹叙夹议 建议时间：17分钟 话题：Christmas gift 文章词数：340 正确率： /20

I was in my early 20s when I discovered the truth about the perfect Christmas trees my sister and I found each year in the forest behind my grandparents’ farmhouse.

When we were 1 , Colleen and I rode the train 300 miles from Seattle to Spokane every summer and Christmas 2 . Then we took a taxi and a bus to Loon Lake. We would hop out at the Loon Lake post office, where Granddad and Gammie 3 us with smiling faces.

Christmases were always 4 at Loon Lake, with snow piled deep for building forts and 5 with our grandparents’ pet dog. Little balls of snow hung from her long fur like Christmas ornaments.

But the fondest 6 of all was when Granddad would ride the horse Jenny and we’d walk up the hill into the 7 behind their house. We’d search the pine trees looking for that 8 one to honor as our Christmas tree. The 9 always involved excited chatter, for all three of us had to 10 that we’d found the perfect tree 11 Granddad would swing his ax. Granddad would 12 the cut tree to Jenny and drag it back to the house.

Granddad passed away when my sister and I were grown. Only then did Gammie 13 his secret: He’d 14 a tree early each spring, then shape it through the summer and fall so it would be 15 for our big day in December. As Colleen and I raced through the trees searching for the 16 tree, he would cleverly 17 us toward its location, without actually pointing it out.

As Gammie told us this story, we 18 that was why she always had that extra happiness in her eyes when we came rushing in the door, bursting with 19 about how this year we’d found the best Christmas tree ever.

Of all the Christmas presents we ever received, none has been more special than the memory of Granddad’s 20 gift. It remains as bright and beautiful as the snow on a clear December day.

1. A. staying up B. growing up C. hanging out D. setting out

2. A. vacation B. celebration C. preparation D. schedule

3. A. praised B. watched C. met D. visited

4. A. warm B. white C. simple D. different

5. A. playing B. helping C. dealing D. covering 

6. A. occasion B. journey C. process D. memory

7. A. field B. forest C. market D. garden

8. A. special B. interesting C. straightest D. tallest

9. A. festival B. experiment C. travel D. search

10. A. explain B. agree C. understand D. promise

11. A. when B. until C. before D. after

12. A. pass B. give C. apply D. attach

13. A. know B. make C. keep D. reveal

14. A. plant B. buy C. hide D. decorate

15. A. possible B. easy C. normal D. ready

16. A. small B. magical C. perfect D. strange

17. A. force B. guide C. drive D. follow

18. A. realized B. argued C. admitted D. imagined

19. A. confusion B. anxiety C. excitement D. surprise

20. A. funny B. practical C. expensive D. serect

轻松一刻

A priest (牧师) is walking down the street one day when he notices a small boy trying to press a doorbell on a house across the street. However, the boy is very small and the doorbell is too high for him to reach.

After watching the boy’s efforts for some time, the priest moves closer to the boy. He steps smartly across the street, walks up behind the little fellow, places his hand kindly on the child’s shoulder and gives the doorbell a ring.

Crouching (屈膝) down to the child’s level, the priest smiles and asks, “And now what, my little man?”

The boy replies, “Now we run!”